Oti Mabuse breaks down in tears on Loose Women as she reveals harrowing family discovery from ITV's DNA Journey

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Oti Mabuse broke down in tears on Loose Women as she revealed some harrowing family history that she unearthed while taking part on ITV 's DNA Journey.
The 34 year old discussed what she'd found out about her ancestry while chatting about Sam Thomspon and Marvin Humes ' upcoming episode of the programme.
It got Oti and her co-stars Kaye Adams, 62, Nadia Sawalha, 60, and Jane Moore, 63, thinking about their own family history.
Oti said: 'I've done a lot of ITV television. This was the best show I've ever done.
'It gave me something personally back.
'I'm from South Africa and our history is really rough.
'With my family, it was wiped out, we had no way of getting any information. When we did this show, they went back to the beginning...'
They then played out a clip from the episode and she continued: 'This makes me very emotional.
'This moment was the moment me and my sister learnt about my grandfather, was was actually a soldier in World War Two.
'He was fighting, he fought for the British.
'They promised all these young black men, you're going to war, you're going to fight for the country, come back and get land, be loved, celebrated.
They came back, they gave them boots and eradicated them and left them in the middle of nowhere. So that is the history.'
She added: 'I think if you see the clip, we cried all our makeup off, it was so heartbreaking. but also so liberating, whether its good or bad, you know where you come from.
'I always believe the roots of where you come from give you the power and the encouragement and confidence to enter the room and go for your future.
'Now I know I am a granddaughter of a soldier.
'My great great aunt was a princess and it went down into royalty.'
They then played out that exact moment and Oti couldn't contain her emotion.
The dancer burst into tears as she Nadia praised her family for their hard efforts.
Back in 2023, Oti and Motsi broke down in tears as they were finally told information about their grandfather following a DNA test.
The sisters took part in the show Oti and Motsi Mabuse's DNA Journey in a bid to learn more about their family history.
The Strictly Come Dancing stars became emotional as they were given medals their grandfather received for his work in the armed forces and they also learned they are distantly related to Nelson Mandela.
In one heartwarming clip from the show, Oti and Motsi wipe away tears as a man shared their grandfather's family history.
Oti said: 'It's a good thing, it's an amazing thing. Please don't think we're sad. One of the missing pieces that we've missed and needed to hear for so long, it's a beautiful thing. We're so grateful. These are tears of, "Oh my God!"'
The man replied: 'You've got a lot to be proud of and all the good deeds your grandfather has done.'
Motsi then read out some of the honours their grandfather received, saying: 'Defence Medal British, war medal and an African Service medal.'
'We had no idea we had war medals in the family,' she added.
Oti added: 'We've tried and everywhere we looked, there's nothing. That's why we have it in our own heads that there's nothing in our family. You've completely flipped that on its head.'
Motsi said the pair couldn't wait to give the information to their father, who they suspected wouldn't know any of it either.
In another clip, the sisters spoke to a different man who had examined their DNA and discovered Nelson Mandela is a 'genetic relative' of theirs.
He said: 'Your group, some quite special people belong to your group and are distant genetic relatives of yours.'
Motsi replied: 'Don't say Nelson Mandela.'
The man confirms it was Nelson Mandela, prompting Oti and Motsi to jump up and down with delight as he added: 'And Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both of them.'
In another clip, Oti and Motsi appear to discover they are also related to a royal family.
They speak to a young woman over Zoom who tells them: 'I have this really exciting nugget of information.
'My great grandma was a direct descendant of royalty. Her name is Princess Hermina.'